10. How Age-Inclusive are Application Processes and Online Portals? | Age Pioneers Action Panel Report

The Reality of Job Hunting for the Over-50's

Anyone seeking employment will spend most days searching online job sites and submitting online applications. On the surface, this seems to be a transparent process, that puts all applicants on a level playing field where only experience and qualifications count. What’s clear, though, is that these processes are not actually age friendly.

According to one Age Pioneer attendee, the success rate for younger people applying for a role through a job board is 10-20%; if you are an older worker, it drops to 1-3%. It can be argued that modern recruitment processes are preventing employers from accessing some of the most experienced talent available, at a time when there are huge skills shortages in the workplace.

This has been confirmed by a 2021 report from Harvard Business School and Accenture called Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent. The report found that candidates who uploaded CVs with gaps in work histories were automatically disqualified by some AI screening tools. And, typically, it’s older workers who have gaps, particularly women. “But,” as Lyndsey Simpson, CEO of 55/Redefined noted, “surely in these times of recession, high interest rates and uncertainty, you want people who have seen it all before and come out the other side? Candidates with experience: and that only comes with age.”

Over-50s Frustration With Online Application Processes

It takes someone in their 50s who has been made redundant two to three times longer to find work, compared to a younger person in a similar position. Gina Poole said: “The over-50s say that in their earlier years, they had no problem securing an interview. So, the only thing that they can put the lack of interviews down to is their age. The feedback we receive from them is a frustration with the online application process.”

A frequent complaint is the amount of irrelevant information that is requested. “For example,” said Gina, “the requirement of a degree for a basic-level role, when many over-50s didn’t go to university.” (In the 1980s, about 15% of young people went to university; it is now about 50%.) “The consequence is that over-50s are reluctant to invest a lot of time applying for jobs online when they feel that the opportunity of being invited to interview is very low.”

The solution: Application forms and processes should be simplified, shortened and checked for unnecessary questions that may discriminate against older workers. This is an area where Gina has helped many 55/Redefined clients to refine their application process. Contact her here to find out how 55/Redefined can help your organisation.

The Over-50s Are Not Well Served by Most Online Jobs Boards

Penny Tongo explained how using standard online job boards to recruit over-50s had become an issue for Ipsos. “Historically, our market research candidates are made up of over-50s and that has worked really well for us. But post-pandemic, we were seeing fewer and fewer applications from that demographic. The general quality had dropped. With standard job boards, you click through to an application process, you receive an automated email and then if you’re lucky you get a phone call and processed for the next stage. It wasn’t delivering, so we had to rethink. How could we approach the market in a different way that made sure we were attracting the over-50s talent pool?”

The solution: Here's how Penny and her team addressed the challenge in five clearly-defined steps.

• We partnered with 55/Redefined. They helped us target the demographic through their networks and their channels.
• We simplified the application process to move away from lengthy questions, so that it takes no longer than five to eight minutes to complete.
• We also moved from an ‘experience’ model to a ‘skills’ model – we want to know about transferable skills they have.
• We used this to create a leads process, then contacted the applicants on the telephone. We saw a huge boost – we had hoped for 100 leads and got 420. More than that, we’ve been tracking the performance of our new starters and we can see an improvement in the quality of the people going out in the field. The campaign’s been very successful.
• We’ve taken some great learnings about what works with the over-50s. We are going to host drop-in phone sessions on a weekly basis. Anyone who is interested can come onto the drop-in call, hear from the interviewers direct, and the recruiter will be on the call to literally walk them through the application process.

Creating something more personal works well with the over-50s, said Lyndsey. She recommended following Ipsos’ lead and building in-person events back into talent acquisition strategies – have a drop-in phone session, recruitment open days or invite the local community to the head office.

Make Flexible Roles a Priority

Gina noted: “The over-50s are sometimes known as the Sandwich Generation – they often have responsibility of care for both older and younger members of their family. They know they can’t commit to full-time work and fulfil those responsibilities, so they rule themselves out from the beginning. Our research shows that flexibility at work is really important to the over-50s.”

The solution: “We must pay more attention to how roles are advertised," Gina said. "Many of the opportunities over-50s are interested in are advertised as full-time, when the employers are actually open to flexible working. Anything that is flexible is more attractive to this cohort.”

The Fallacy of “Being Overqualified”

Older workers are regularly rejected because they are deemed to be overqualified. Lyndsey explained: “The phrase ‘overqualified’ is a misdirection. Often, it’s when a young hiring manager feels intimidated by the experience of the person in front of them. They do not understand their motivations, and are distrustful and intimidated. In reality, it’s a proactive decision from the older worker. They have decided they don’t want the big job anymore. They just want to do the work that they really enjoy.

“Also, there is misdirection around salary. The hiring manager sees a candidate earning more money than they are prepared to pay. They think, ‘Why is the applicant taking a pay cut? Are they an underperformer? Have they got issues that we are not aware of?’ Yet, we know from our research that 89% of those in their 50s will take a significant pay cut in order to retrain, re-skill and do something more interesting.”

The solution: Educate younger recruitment professionals and hiring managers on the real reasons why older workers have chosen a less intense role. Help them to understand that for the over-50s, taking a salary cut can be a positive, proactive decision.

Age Pioneers is Sponsored by Join Talent

A huge thank you to Join Talent for their continued sponsorship of Age Pioneers. Join Talent is a recruitment and talent acquisition consultancy specialising in helping tech, product and digital teams. It is one of the fastest growing companies in Europe – 13th place in the 2023 Financial Times 1000 Fastest Growing European Companies. It is also the youngest company on the list. Follow Join Talent on LinkedIn.

The Action Panel privately discussed these points following the speakers Q&A which is not recorded. To be part of this confidential conversation, get in touch HERE. Missed a session? Access previous recordings and articles HERE.